Crimson Tyrant Princess
by ThatGrayAreaInCompanyPolicy
Summary: Rias runs away with a powerful artifact and hijinks ensue. Watch as she grows in power and grows into her own as a Super Devil. Different! Peerage and some original story arcs. Just a splash of Magic: The Gathering for well, magic. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

*/-\\*Friday, March 9, 2012*/-\\*

"You can't be serious Sirzechs!" Ajuka Beelzebub blocked his fellow Satan's path to the doorway. "You felt that power level, you shouldn't rush in so recklessly. As your best friend, I forbid you from going to investigate that power source without at least one of us, Grayfia, and all the other members of your [Peerage] that are on hand!"

The Crimson Satan made to argue with his green-haired friend but was cut off immediately by his other best friend, who was dressed as usual in her 'magical girl' outfit.

"Yeah! You can count on Magical Girl Levia-tan to help investigate" Serafall, the third Maou said before pouting and pointing accusingly at Sirzechs, "Besides, as the Great Satans, it is our responsibility to investigate such powerful occurrences. Don't think we aren't both coming with you, and you have to get your Dad because he's the Lord Gremory".

Sirzechs turned up his nose and harrumphed, "Fine! Then you two have to get Falbium, that is if it's a responsibility for the Maou. Neither my peerage nor my wife will be involved in something like this if it's something one of us shouldn't handle alone. We'll meet at Gremory Castle and depart when you get there".

Ajuka and Serafall sweatdropped, suddenly looked very nervous. 'Oh' they thought in unison 'That means we have to wake him up… shit'

*/-\\* An hour later, at Gremory Castle, after much fussing from Falbium and minor panic from Lord Gremory */-\\*

"Yo Sirzechs-chan!" Serafall sang out, "Guess who we found?"

"Enough Serafall. You're already forcing me to be awake; I'm not really in the mood for games." Falbium, the fourth Satan Asmodeus, then turned to Sirzechs with a serious look on his face, "Now this better not be a waste of my time. Give me all the information that you have, and I'll come up with a plan for you to follow. Then I'm going back to sleep."

No one was surprised by their friend's overwhelming sin of sloth and decided collectively that they wouldn't ask any more of him than what he offered.

"Son, I think its about time you told us what the fuck is going on. That sudden power that we all felt is all anyone is talking about right now, and I need to be informed!" Zeoticus was clearly impassioned by the end of his short outburst. It was obvious looking at his bright crimson hair and blue eyes where Sirzechs got his looks from- even if he got his power from his mother's line.

Sirzechs chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't normally get to be as relaxed as he was, but in the company of equals and family, he was able to be himself. "Well you see… We don't know anything at all other than that a bit over an hour ago, a huge surge of magical energy was felt all over the clan's territory. I suppose we also know that the energy wasn't holy, demonic, or draconic in nature. The feel of it wasn't aggressive either".

Falbium closed his eyes and rubbed his chin. "Well, based on what I'm hearing, you four should probably just approach it alone." He opened his eyes and sighed, "After all, if this thing is as strong as this commotion suggests, none of your peerage pieces could ever hope to be more than a liability in battle; should it come to that. The only reason that I'm not suggesting Lord Gremory stay here is because it is his duty as master of the territory to manage all powerful newcomers." He turned toward the door so that he could leave the heavily warded area that prevented the use of teleportation circles, "Unless you have a problem with my plan, I'm going back to bed. Wake me up when you figure out what this thing is."

No one stopped the 4th Maou from leaving. Once he had departed, Zeoticus spoke up. "Well? What are we waiting for? Let's go find out what this thing is!"

With that the small party started moving to go outside. Since they couldn't pinpoint the exact location of the power's origin, they decided to fly over the area around where they thought it could be. In only ten minutes time, Ajuka, Sirzechs, and Zeoticus received the signal that Serafall had found their mysterious power source. But when they tried to teleport to her, they found that they were unable to do so. It was at that point that Ajuka began to sweat and worry. There were very few barriers that could keep devils of his power out- and each that he'd encountered thus far had been of a holy nature. The fact that this barrier didn't have to rely on the devils' natural weakness to keep them away only made him fly faster toward Serafall.

As he closed in on her position, he found himself flying side by side with his two other compatriots. They didn't speak but to make an impromptu plan… Which promptly flew out the window when they saw that in the middle of the wasteland that was this part of Gremory territory, a tall figure had lifted Serafall up off the ground, holding her an arms-length away at eye level. It held her by the sides of her head as the rest of her body hung limply, feet swaying almost a foot and a half off the ground. Most disturbingly, there was a bright blue beam of light and energy connecting their foreheads.

It was disturbing to the devils, that someone who felt like a human had so much power. Even more unnerving was the man's youthful appearance. He was tall and fit, appearing to be in his mid-twenties. His light complexion was a startling contrast to his pitch-black hair. It simply wasn't natural to become so powerful so quickly, and especially not for a human.

They three devils were aiming their charged attacks at the human when the light suddenly stopped. They tensed as Serafall was allowed to fall in a heap and the man spoke airily. "I apologize for that bit of unpleasantness. In my defense she shouted a lot." With that, he picked at his earwax with his pinkie. He stood there staring at them, not even looking slightly perturbed by the attacks he was facing down.

Thankfully, all the devils could sense that Serafall was still alive, just unconscious. For a few moments, they stood there. This strange, tall man without a weapon in sight facing down three devils who had already charged attacks. It was obvious that they were the ones with the advantage. Ajuka thought, 'then why am I so nervous about a fight with this man?'

So there they stood for almost three minutes, assessing the other through the utterly oppressive tension between them.

Thankfully, Sirzechs took responsibility as an ambassador of his people and made the first move to de-escalate the situation. He allowed his spell to dissipate and reigned his power back to lessen the tension. The rest of his party followed suit. He still spoke stiffly, "What did you do to her?"

"I stopped her from shouting at me in a language I didn't understand"

"If you don't understand the language she was shouting at you in, how are you speaking it now?"

"I made myself understand the language." The man smirked, as though enjoying some kind of joke.

"Why You!" Sirzechs began, before his father cast a silencing spell on Sirzechs. It wasn't a particularly difficult one to unravel, but it would take about 3 minutes. Lesser beings could be stuck in suck a spell for months if they could not find someone to break it for them. T'is a delightfully infernal ward.

After silencing is overemotional overpowered idiot son, Zeoticus spoke "Hello, my name is Zeoticus Gremory, Lord of the Gremory Clan. You are currently in the underworld on land owned by the Gremory Clan. If you plan to stay here, I'm sure we could set up some kind of contract." He finished his introduction with a charming grin and a wink. That neatly shaven beard looked scrumptious, and those magically charged blue eyes were to die for. Just because he was married doesn't mean he was going to let his flirting game fall into disrepair. After all, how else would he attract cuties for him and his wife to play with together?

"Well met, devil. I am called Alaveize. I would let you use my true name, but there is no true expression of my name in the languages of this world, so you must make do with that. I am sure the two of us can come to an arrangement," he said with a wink, "Though, I'm afraid I have no need to be introduced to the rest of you."

Just as Ajuka was about to start going of at Alaveize, Serafall popped up to her feet and pointed her wand at Alaveize. "YOU!"

He touched a finger to her staff. "Me," he nodded.

"You can talk now?"

"I could talk before."

"But we can understand each other now."

"Good observation."

"WHY YOU! "It was at this point that Zeoticus silenced her as well.

"Do you mind," He sighed, "If my companions and I have a short talk in private?"

Alaveize smirked and gestured outward, "On any piece of your own land you like."

Zeoticus felt a tic mark forming before he felt Ajuka's hand on his shoulder. The younger devil whispered to the Lord Gremory "Keep calm, he's riling us on purpose. Not out of any sort of desire to gain an advantage as far a I can tell. But its unbecoming for us to be so easily inflamed."

The devils then walked a hundred paces from Alaveize before they began to chat.

"I don't know what the hell is happening out there. We're not usually so easy to rile up. What's the deal you guys?" Zeoticus began, "Doesn't matter. Either way, I'll invite him over for dinner at my estate. You will bring Falbium, and we'll hopefully learn more then. It's obvious that this man is new in this dimension. If I can contract with him now, I will gain an extremely powerful ally."

"Well, if he agrees, then that is our course of action," Ajuka reasoned, "But-"

Zeoticus had already turned away from the huddle and was halfway back to where Alaveize was standing. "Do you want to come over for dinner?" He asked, his tone friendly and welcoming.

"I've never turned down an offer to eat at a Lord's table, why would I start now?" Alaveize chuckled, as if he had remembered some joke.

****Later, at Gremory Estate****

"Ok, we provisionally trust you to not be a threat," Zeoticus began, "But my real question is how you came to be on my property."

Alaveize picked at his salad as he's doing what he's been doing for an hour, being questioned while the main meal is being prepared- of course the kinds of dishes being served at the Gremory estate would be the kind that take between one and two hours to make, so there's plenty of time to get business finished and be able to fully focus on the meal. "I am not of this world, of course, for this was only one of many that I have visited in the past. Your people know of the dimensional gap, yes?"

Sirzechs nodded, "It's the space between worlds of heaven, earth, and the underworld. It's a ridiculously inhospitable, completely lethal to anyone without strong magical protections. Why do you ask?"

"To give you some perspective. I come from a place beyond the dimensional gap. From a completely different plane of existence, only accessible through the Blind Eternities. The Blind Eternities are so lethal that the only way to withstand them is to have a piece of them imbedded in your soul or to be a creature born of them." He paused to take more bites of food as he waited for his audience to compose themselves, "Those with this 'Spark' are known as Planeswalkers. I am one of those number".

Ajuka asked, "Why are you telling us this? What if we try to travel to other planes to do as we with there?"

Alaveize shrugged, "You could do that. But I really don't recommend it. You'll understand soon enough." His nose picked up on the smells of rich dishes with thick gravy and tender meat along with strange veggies- clearly a delicious indigenous treat- in a sublime sauce. There were so many smells from so many different dishes. He was excited! "But once again, I remind you that we all agree I'm not a threat-"

"Provisionally!" Zeoticus interjected.

The 'Walker of course ignored him "And that you won't have to worry about me for long, so let's just eat. I'll explain why after food. I'm quite famished from my journey through planes and dimension." He finished with a wry smirk.

Zeoticus shrugged, "I suppose that's that. We shall resume this conversation after we eat." At that, he clapped his hands twice, and the servants began to stream into the room, most carrying dishes full of rich meats, vegetables prepared decadently, fish and poultry too. Those who were not were offering fine wines and old spirits. After all, there's nothing like embracing the sin of Gluttony in a classy way for a devil like him- and this strange and powerful entity should know it!

*-* 90 minutes later *-*

The Maou and Zeoticus looked on in awe as Alaveize continued to pack away the rich foods served at a quick pace with impeccable manners, long after the rest of them had stopped eating. Suddenly, he put his fork down and wiped the edge of his mouth with his napkin, despite its spotless appearance.

"Hh-h-hh-how?" Ajuka stuttered at the apparent bottomless pit.

"That would be because my body is unravelling due to the nature of this plane. Of course, this is the reason you will not have to worry about me for too long. And the reason why I advise you don't try to leave this plane- even if you manage to survive the Blind Eternities you'd just unravel in the new plane. Simple incompatibility. Thankfully, all of my possessions, due to being inorganic, are not also unravelling." Alaveize suddenly turned solemn, "So I will need a laboratory, Lord Beelzebub. I plan to craft a vessel for my soul that will allow me to interact with the physical world after my bodily demise".

This startled the devils greatly. The practice of sealing your soul and therefore power is considered ghastly even by their standards, though it could be because no devil had divined a way to carry the ability to exercise their own power with them. Zeoticus, due to being around long enough to have seen far more ghastly things in person was the first to ask a critical question- "You say you're 'unravelling'? What exactly does that mean?"

"It means that it requires most of my power to be devoted to holding my being together. If I were to release that grip, I would quickly disintegrate." Alaveize smiled, "But your world seems interesting, and your people long-lived, so instead of letting myself die after so long, I will persist. I will take the form of a hideously powerful artifact to observe and aid for all time, and I will entrust one of you here to be my first caretaker at the end of the crafting process!" 'Nothing like tempting a devil with power. I should have everything I could want for my last days in a form of flesh.'

At that declaration, every Devil's eyes nearly popped out of their heads, and their minds immediately started churning with the possibilities of what this artifact could potentially be and do. In the next second Ajuka stood, slamming his hand on the table. He exclaimed- "Lord Alaveize! Please, after this meeting please come with me! I'll show you to my laboratory and make it available for your usage. I will also provide sleeping quarters for the duration of your project".

It was at this point that Falbium teleported away, too lazy to contribute, but having completed his duty of helping ensure that it went fine. Serafall joined him, but not for laziness. She was still traumatized by what this Mage had done when she had first encountered him. The only reason she had stayed this long was to do her duty. Had she been a devil more susceptible to Envy or Greed she may have tried to win the Planeswalkers favor despite her fear and discomfort.

Alaveize chuckled, "I thank you Lord Beelzebub, for your hospitality. Though, I will not need anywhere to sleep. I will need to be awake continuously for my magic to retain its grip on this plane, so I will work continuously. I have many artifacts in my possession that I can use to keep awake, so you need not worry".

Sirzechs met his father's eye and winked at him. Zeoticus cleared his throat. "And I will send good food to keep you sustained as your work. No need to subsist on garbage supplements. And besides, when other than when you break to eat will you engage to decide who shall be your caretaker. I can't allow you to spend your last days in flesh form not enjoying yourself!" He turned up his nose, "It would be failing in my duty as a Devil to allow you to waste away without a good time".

Alaveize laughed, "Very well, I will take a meal every fifth hour. I suppose it would be quite irresponsible for me to leave myself in an unknown's care. I suppose it is time that I got started on my design though. This meal has been lovely."

Taking the cue, Ajuka spoke, "If you would come stand next to me, I will transport you now."

Alaveize nodded, and the pair departed moments late.

Sirzechs sighed with exhaustion. "Well, that went better than I could have imagined when this day started."

His father looked over, and nodded, "This was a good day. There's a 2/3 chance the Gremory family will gain a 'hideously powerful artifact'. And even if we don't, then Ajuka's daughter and Millicas are contracted, so it won't be long before its all in the family." Zeoticus chuckled, "There's no way at all this could go wrong for me."

Sirzechs made a face, before saying goodbye and teleporting to wherever his wife was. After all, Grayfia would want to know about the developments of the day.

*-*Meanwhile, in Rias's room after eavesdropping on the entire meal*-*

"I have to manage to get to that laboratory." Rias declared, "I have to meet this guy and see if he'll entrust me as his guardian. After all, with a 'hideously powerful artifact' I would be able to offer something none of the others can!" Her sea blue eyes shined with ambition- this Planeswalker will be her ticket to freedom.

"Oh ho Rias, and what can you, at 14, offer that your father or one of the Maou cannot?" Akeno demurred.

Rias smiled softly, "Adventure. If he entrusts me, I'd run away to the human world for a few years. After all, how else will I grow as strong as I need to be if I'll ever be free." She looked to Akeno to see the other girl's reaction. "Ahh," she waved her hands awkwardly, "You don't have to come if you don't want to. You could stay here and train with my father and Grayfia until we would start school in the human world if you wanted to."

"Let me think about this Rias. I don't know right now, but I'll have an answer at the last second to be sure!" She smiled, "As much as I would love to join you, I might not live if I skip even a single lesson with Grayfia!"

"Ok! Just know that I won't love you any less if you decide not to come. You'd just better send letters if you don't!" Rias said in a faux demanding tone to her [Queen]. They both devolved into giggles at that.

 **OK! Chapter one done! Don't me regarding cannon details about when Koneko and Kiba and Gasper joined her peerage, because I don't care. I decided on 14 as a good age for Rias to be at the beginning of the story because I have a 14-year-old brother, so I have a decent idea of how people that age interact with the world, and because it fits nicely with the plot. Obviously, since Rias won't be around for any of the aforementioned peerage members, I can really mix it up. The only given right now is Akeno. Of course, this is set pre-mending, but due to the nature of the DXD plane, there is no way to leave the plane without dying by unravelling in the Blind Eternities. In addition, the godlike power planeswalkers had by virtue of being planeswalkers is not yet diminished, but DXD verse is so isolated that there no way the mending will affect anything happening here.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, readers. I'm back at it with chapter 2. Enjoy. Just some housekeeping things- I will be updating every other Wednesday from now on. As I upload this, I'm currently working on chapter 4. I struggle with depression, so writing ahead by a couple chapters will let me bring you guys content even if I haven't been able to write. As usual, I remain very responsive to feedback, so you can expect some kind of response if you ask me a question in a review.**

CHAPTER 2

Having spent the first 19 hours of work time feverishly blueprinting and designing his Magnum Opus- his crowning masterpiece of artifice- and hopefully, what would be considered years from now to be the most powerful weapon to have ever existed in this plane of existence, Alaveize was now in the first stages of its crafting.

Sweat dripped of his brow as he stood shirtless and glistening in the low light of the forge where he was folding and refolding darksteel even as he wove enchantments through the entire forging process. It would be impossible to extricate the enchantments from the final product as per the nature of the process he employed. To most, such a process would be beyond difficult, but he had thousands of years of experience. Despite all the power he accumulated, he still enjoyed doing things like this himself. The early and routine parts of the process were perfect opportunities to reflect on the life he had lived.

****The plane of Ashkultyk, approx. 27,000 years ago****

"My baby, we need to leave now. Papa cannot help us now". His mother's voice whispered to him, obviously in pain. After all, her husband had just been executed for a fabricated crime.

"But…" He whispered, still naïve in his youth, "He didn't do anything wrong. Why did he have to die?"

She couldn't answer that. There was no reason. She had caught the attention of a corrupt court official of their port city while she was at the market, buying ingredients for dinner. He had tried to convince her to join his harem, unsuccessfully. Just three days later, the city guard had come and arrested her husband. He was scarcely given a trial before being beheaded. "I know baby, but we have to leave now, or we'll will be in danger too."

The pair quickly left the town square, trying to pack what they could and leave before the official could get his grimy hands on them.

When they arrived at their home, the official was there, along with 6 armed guards. "Oh, so you finally arrived?" The official smiled smugly. "Are you ready to accept my offer now?"

"No, I don't think I am. You're far too repulsive for my tastes." His mother shot back, either oblivious to, or uncaring of the danger.

"You Bitch! Well, I tried being nice," He chuckled, "Men, kill the boy and bring the woman to me".

That was his first.

The official did not die well.

First the screaming. Then the begging. Then trying to gouge out his own eyes. He succeeded of course, but it didn't help at all. The man's guards immediately decided that it wasn't worth it and left in all possible haste.

His first time entering another's mind and pulling it to pieces, in the most excruciating manner possible.

Of course, he had learned much from that experience at the tender age of 8- The weak are never free.

His father was weak. Physically, he was powerful, from his many years working the forge. But he never had money, or influence, or power. So when someone with all of those things decided to mess with him, there was no recourse, and he was killed.

But the official was also weak. He had both money and influence, and guards, but he had no Power. Nothing that could stop him from killing the useless man.

But he would not be weak, he would be free! And in his mind the only way to be truly free was to become so Powerful there would be none left who could infringe on his will.

That was the beginning of his quest for power.

He remembered with great fondness his first 60 years, travelling across the plane- at first with his mother but later without once he became an adult- learning more and more of his power of the mind. He was feverish in his desire to gain power and used his power to rip knowledge of other Magic from the minds of masters. At the age of 73, he had sparked. He regained his youth and vitality. After making sure that he had learned everything there was to learn on the plane and that no one he cared for was left, he created his first Mox.

**Ajuka Labs 3/10/12**

His musings of the past were interrupted by a knock on the laboratory door. 'Ah, must be mealtime already'. "Come in!" He shouted, over the roar of the forge. He carefully finished the creation of the metal he would use for the scepter he would build. It would be far too ornate to be called a mere staff, then went to grab some water.

The door creaked open, and Rias stuck her head in before asking, "Ano, is this a good time? And can I be your lunch" she blushed "date for today?"

He looked at her and sensed her. She had massive potential, and already had a reasonable amount of power to begin with. She was also younger than any other who desired his artifact. He would test her the same as all the others.

Alaveize let out a sigh of contentment after downing a cup full of ice water, "You may, Rias Gremory."

She rolled the cart full of decadent foods and desserts into the room while Alaveize took another drink of water.

He'd only gotten a tiny glimpse of her thoughts and decided that he wanted to have this conversation without mind magic. First was to test and see if she had any true guts "Now then what is the younger sister of the Maou Lucifer and the daughter of Zeoticus Gremory doing here of all places, hmm?"

She tensed up. 'Oh good, this is as touchy as I gathered, now let's see if she gets past level 1.' Then she took a deep breath, and spoke coldly, "I'm here as Rias. Not as a representative of my family, and I'd thank you to remember that".

'Time for level 2' He adopted an aura of slight menace, which is greater than the full killing intent of most high-class devils. "What did you just say to me?" he asked, trying to make it as uncomfortable as possible for her to advocate for herself.

She gulped, "I said I'm here for myself… Sir."

'Oh, full marks. She even knows when respect is called for.' The Planeswalker cracked a smile, "Good job Rias." Her face morphed instantly into a mask of confusion, "You demonstrated that you have the guts necessary to even be considered as my first caretaker. You may call me Alaveize. Congratulations."

Her confusion melted into joy, "Thank you Alaveize." She smiled. "Now, let's eat!"

He nodded, and walked over to the table "Let's"

While Alaveize began to load up his first plate, Rias asked, in pure 14-year-old fashion, "So how old are you? You look young but feel old… It's weird".

Alaveize laughed, "After I commend your boldness, you go right ahead and ask my age first! Very well then. If you must know, I recently celebrated my 27 thousandth birthday".

"Twenty-seven!?" Rias shouted, then clasped her hands over her mouth, completely mortified by her outburst. 'Most devils only live 10,000 years… What kind of body does a planeswalker have that they can live so long?'

But he just laughed, "Yes, well, planeswalkers are functionally immortal. My closest friend was a 25,000-year-old elder dragon archmage planeswalker. Pity Nicol killed him."

After indulging in a bit more small-talk, mostly stories from his travels, he decided to hear her pitch, "So why would I pick you over any of the other six?" Then he began eating.

"I'm the only one of them who plans on running away to explore the world if I get to take you. If you stay here with one of them then you'll probably spend much of your time in an office." She saw a brief look of disgust on his face and thought 'Its now or never' She raised her voice slightly and said authoritatively, "And if you wanted to sit around and do nothing as an inanimate object rather than go on adventures then you should just die!" She paused for a moment, before her eyes bulged out of her head as she realized what she just said before she closed her eyes and cast her most powerful shield.

It was a tense moment of silence before Alaveize burst out in riotous laughter, "Indeed, indeed. Well said." He cocked his head slightly, "Now, tell me. What is your greatest ambition?"

Rias knew her ambition immediately- she obsessed daily over it. "I want to be free! From the marriage contract my parents made for me. From the expectations of the Gremory heir. From the shadow of my brother. From the demands of the pureblood devil society. That is my ambition".

Alaveize smiled brightly. She reminded him of his own youth tethered to the fortunes of his family and his own ambition that had carried him to the utter peak of power. "And where will you seek this freedom? Do you have ambition or merely desire?"

Rias walked over to the forge and stared into the molten heat. "The only place to seek anything of importance of course. In power. That is where you come in, I think. Not just the scepter you make, but your tutelage."

He nodded, appreciating not only her dramatics, but the insight she had into the world. "Very well. You shall be my first caretaker. If you truly want to run away, you must make your preparations quickly. I will be done in just three days. That means you must smuggle all of the possession you wish to take with you to this workshop before I finish. When I finish the scepter, we will be leaving the underworld immediately. You will arrange for our transport to the human realm. You may come at any time to watch my process or to ask me questions. It's not as though I have any reason to hide my techniques anymore." At the though he couldn't help but to smile sadly.

Rias looked stunned, and then started bowing and thanking him repeatedly. It really worked!

"I will now begin crafting the rod of the scepter. I will be using Moxen as a skeleton for the design. The outer layer will be part enchanted darksteel and part Etherium." His eyes began glowing and a stream of wildly colored gems- 26 large gems, each a unique shape and color began to flow from where they were laid out on the table into the bubbling mass of liquified enchanted darksteel. "I must first allow the enchantments in the darksteel to bind to the Moxen before any true shaping can happen. That process will take a few hours, so in the meantime I will begin crafting the actual receptacle for my soul. Etherium will be magically grafted later on, as it is far more malleable in its natural state".

Rias had questions, of course. "What are Moxen? And darksteel? And Etherium? Are they also not of this world?"

Alaveize grinned, "Darksteel is a naturally occurring metal native to Mirrodon. It is naturals completely indestructible and incredibly magic conducive. Etherium is the best mana conductor in the multiverse. Etherium is a self-sustaining power source that allows for precision enchanting. So not of this world. Moxen on the other hand, are unique. In order to create a Moxen, you must first collapse a plane, then condense and shape the plane into a powerful mana battery."

"So to make a Mox you have to, what? Destroy an entire plane of existence?" Rias asked, completely shocked. She just had to make sure she was right in what she heard.

"Yes, and I have 26."

"Did you? You know…"

"Only 8 of these are made by me personally. They were wicked worlds far beyond salvage, from the beginning of my life. I was quite wrathful then," he says with a wry smile. "The rest are spoils of war from battles with other planeswalkers."

Rias sighed a mental sigh of relief. The full 26 being his would have been far too scary to contemplate. "Will you use an otherworldly material for your soul container?"

He shook his head. "No, I will be making enchanted diamond glass. Come, see".

Rias couldn't move fast enough to get by his side. She gasped as she saw five gigantic diamonds, each easily weighing 5000 Carats. Her eyes widened, "Are you really going to…"

"Of course. If you truly desire, I can turn the leftovers into a trinket for you. I would keep them whole, but then I couldn't enchant it properly." With that, he began breaking them down with wind-based techniques. The powerful but controlled destruction rendered each of the diamonds into diamond dust in just 15 minutes. Such time was necessary to ensure that everything stayed where it's supposed to.

Then came the terrifying part- his mouth unhinged, and his form became murky. Liquid fire made completely of magic began pouring out of his mouth like a waterfall, pooling in midair around the level of the table. As the pool grew, the heat in the room began to escalate. It wasn't long before random scraps of paper around the room combusted and anything shoddily made started to melt under the pressure.

Rias started sweating immediately and cast an isolation spell to shield her from the heat. It was a tricky spell to cast for the concentration it required and the power it demanded. Alaveize noticed the exertion and looked at her with what could be perceived as approval. And then he did more terrifying things and his body started to do what could only be described as unravelling. His form was completely devoted to forging this diamond dust into a soul container.

The heat did not abate for the next few hours and Alaveize stirred and mixed and folded whispered into the flowing, ethereal material that was almost as much enchantment as it was material. Of course, during this entire time, Rias was still forced to keep up her isolation spell. She was sitting on the floor, panting with exertion. She knew that if she couldn't keep up with the isolation zone, then she would surely die. When an egg timer went off it the next room, the heat abated suddenly, and she looked through lidded eyes to see Alaveize returned to his normal form and putting a basin full of glowing melted diamond into a stasis spell.

"Well done Rias. You've survived another test. As a devil you should have expected something like this." He cocked his head, "I must test not only your strength of mind, but your skill and power as well. Believe me that these tests are a price worth paying for the privilege you shall receive."

Rias was laid out on the ground at this point, breathing deeply. She was obviously exhausted from maintaining such a shield for nearly three hours. "You bastard…" she panted, "I thought I was going to die!"

"But are you dead now?"

She gritted her teeth, "NO…"

"Then it's fine! Now, it's time for you to head home and begin your packing. I have ten hours of chanting over a bowl to do now."

At the thought of ten hours of chanting, Rias froze up 'There's no way he isn't lying, but if I try to call him out I risk watching him chant for ten hours. What a devious man.' "Aha" she laughed nervously, "Yeah I really should be going. There isn't much time and a lot to do!"

"Come back tomorrow around midday. I will be doing something other than chanting by then. And bring any servants you have. I wish to assess their quality as well."

The redhead nodded, "Yes sir" and made her way out of laboratory to a place she could teleport from.

*/-\\* Late that night */-\\*

Ajuka had managed to lure Alaveize away from the lab for an hour or two with some hedonism. So there he was, being fed expensive cuts of meat by gorgeous women while he soaked in a natural spring and got head from a mermaid.

Of course, Ajuka was not 30 feet away getting the same treatment. He supposed it was true that Devils were the ultimate hedonists. The way they craft their experiences so that the recipient feels powerful, relaxed, and elite.

Alaveize finished in the mermaid's mouth and having already finished his meal he immediately stood and excused himself, "I have a lot more chanting to do. I will see you later."

'This isn't good. He doesn't seem to like any of us who would be options for his caretaker. I wonder if he has found someone secret we don't know he's met.' "Ok, just let me know if there's anything I can get you at any time." Ajuka offered for what had to be the 100th time. Once Alaveize was a good distance away, he thought 'I should probably put some mechanical security around the lab. See if he's seeing anyone strange.'

*/-\\* Lunch 3/11/12 */_\\*

"Lord Alaveize!" Shouted out Rias as she arrived from a teleportation circle.

The ancient Planeswalker smiled as he heard the eager footsteps of two young devils approaching his position from the hall. "Do come in, I'm just finishing with the Etherium molding," he projected, certainly loud enough for them to hear.

Rias opened the door and cleared her throat, "May I present, my first and only servant- my [Queen] Akeno Himejima." With that, a Black-haired girl, looking to be about the same age as Rias entered the room.

Alaveize noted her shrine maiden costume with mild amusement. "Hello, I am Alaveize. I hope you prove worthy of my standards."

Both girls were flabbergasted by how forward and blunt this man was, but Rias bowed quickly, "Please assess my [Queen]."

The Planeswalker's eyes ignited with magical energy as he gazed at Akeno to judge her. After a few moments he began laughing uproariously.

"Ara…" Akeno tilted her head, confused, "Is this good?"

"I…" Rias paused as she watched the crazy man continue to laugh, "I don't know. I hope so, for your sake."

Before Akeno could ask anything else, an oppressively sadistic aura filled the room. Even though she could feel her mind begin to stop working, she knew her panties were completely soaked. She shivered with pleasure and looked over to see Rias utterly frozen with fear. Then over to Alaveize and saw the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.

The black lightning coursing over the man's body was clearly the source of the terror. Akeno blushed heavily, "Oh my… what is this?"

Alaveize stopped cackling, and crackling. "This is blightning. I didn't think I would be able to ever teach this technique to anyone. But I got lucky. You are the rare type that could even try wielding something like this. I will tell you some more after I eat, and you tell me about yourself."

*/-\\*After Lunch*/-\\*

Akeno looked incredibly uncomfortable as the man went over this 'blightning' again. It seemed so powerful, so dangerous. Someone like her wasn't worthy of it. This was even more uncomfortable than spilling her guts in front of a virtual stranger…

"This is correct Rias, the psychic and spiritual damage that blightning deals combined with the way that it completely bypasses magical defenses and physical resistances make it a potent weapon, so it's even able to cripple those with regenerative capabilities. There are other uses for it that go beyond blasting people with it in combat. As you saw, even just summoning the cursed stuff can emit an aura of malice and pain. In addition to its utility as an intimidation technique, blightning could also be considered the ultimate torture technique. With enough skill, it can inflict such agony and mental damage to erode even a Geas that prevents them from sharing information. There are no secrets from a sufficiently skilled user. An old colleague of mine has said that you would scream out your deepest secrets just to make it stop. That your soul was under such duress that any thoughts of deception were a million miles away."

"That's awesome!" Rias gushed, "Akeno, you have to learn it. This is going to be good for your goals." She poked her fingers together looking bashful, "Besides, it's great from frying Phenexes, and that is quite relevant to my goals".

Akeno sighed, "I haven't earned such a technique, but I won't say no."

"Pshaw" The 'Walker scoffed, "By virtue of having the potential, you have already earned it. Besides, as Rias will be the first to possess my artifact, it is my responsibility to make sure she is as strong as possible. Teaching you a technique so suited for you is the least I can do. Its not as though I have anything to gain by not teaching you." He pulled a small tome seemingly from thin air- "Here. This is for you to read. If you plan on staying in the Underworld, then I will have you keep that once you can prove that you can cast blighting two days from now. That will be your excuse to come here on the day I will be done with my scepter. We will depart from there after testing Akeno."

Akeno accepted the tome- her fate as wielder of the most cursed and powerful lightning technique known to devils- and looked at the old thing with a reverence. "Thank you. I will make your legacy absolute with this technique." She was oddly pleased with the sharp grin she received for that comment.

"Now scram. Come back in two days. Oh, and Rias?"

"Yes sir?"

"I have decided on a name."

"And?"

He smirked, "It's a bit self-indulgent, but I've landed on 'Alaveize the Tyrant Scepter'. You'll see why."

 **Zeoticus has been having regular meals with Alaveize as well, but he's essentially a fun minor character, and those interactions don't mean much to the plot. If it's popular enough, I'll write a canon Omake about the hijinks they got up to.**


	3. Chapter 3

*/-\\* Lunch 3/12/12 */-\\*

Alaveize swirled his wine in his cup. Sirzechs responded by swirling his wine as well.

Alaveize sipped. Sirzechs sipped.

Alaveize cut his steak. Sirzechs followed.

And so it continued for another 5 minutes that Alaveize took an action and Sirzechs mirrored it. Alaveize didn't mind though, as he took the time to gently comb through Sirzechs's memories. There were some interesting battles in there, but the real interesting part was Sirzechs training with his power. It would help him to build a curriculum for Rias, so the information was useful for something beyond knowing how Devils traditionally develop techniques. But eventually he finished his steak, which meant it was finally time for business.

"Enough. State your purpose Sirzechs. You've done enough stalling." There was no room left- Sirzechs would either say his peace or leave. He already knew what Sirzechs was here for, and while he had to deal with this conversation, he did not have to enjoy it.

Sirzechs sighed, 'Of course he would negotiate in such a blunt way' "You plan to allow my sister to be your wielder. I just need to know why." He grinned cheekily. "For her safety, I'm sure you understand."

The planeswalker smiled a soft, genuine smile- shocking Sirzechs- "She reminds me of myself when I was young. She has the potential- and the drive to exploit that potential. There is no better choice." It was better to give the Satan the illusion of choice than to reveal more of his power.

The crimson Satan shakes his head, "Of course it's a reason like that. Now I have no choice but to give you my permission to have her for until she starts her 3rd year of high school. Have her at Kuoh Academy in Kuoh, Japan on April 4th, 2015 please. She will meet up with whatever peerage she manages to collect in the meantime then."

"That will be her decision, but I will encourage her to do so as a favor to you."

Sirzechs stands up and begins to walk away. He doesn't want Alaveize to see his face right now. "I appreciate it, you know. Rias deserves a lot more that she's gotten so far. Hopefully your influence can make her shine."

Just before Sirzechs leaves the room, he hears it. "She'll surpass you, you know. With my influence on her potential she's going to leave you in the dust."

'Heh… I can't wait.'

*/-\\* Dinner 3/12/12 */-\\*

Serafall entered the lab only to see a wraith with a jeweler's loupe carving symbols into a rod. She waited on the sinfully comfortable couch in the living area of the lab, quite nervous. She hadn't approached the terrifying Planeswalker since he had pillaged her mind for information the day he had arrived in their plane of existence. 'For some reason, I can never gather the focus to tell anyone about that mind reading… It's probably no big deal…' But the idea of a new staff- as she had heard from Ajuka that was what he was making- was too juicy for her to resist. A strict upgrade on what she was using now would be welcome. All she had to do was make peace with its creator.

After no more than 5 minutes, the wraith returned to the tall and handsome form everyone had gotten used to. But shirtless and sweaty and covered in weird looking scars. 'Oh shit he's really hot,' Serafall thought, her sin of lust rearing its head. She tried to shut it down immediately to moderate success.

"Serafall, it is good to see you here. I had been wondering if you would show up after I pillaged your mind so roughly".

Now that shocked her to the core- his extraction was extremely smooth to her. She didn't even want to resist at the time, and it was completely painless. "Roughly?"

"Well you noticed it was happening. That is rough by my standard." Alaveize smirked.

Now that terrified her. If it was true, then he'd probably ripped everything he wanted from everyone at dinner that first night. State secrets, personal issues, likes, dislikes, past misdeeds, everything. There were no secrets to a man like that, she realized. She nearly started hyperventilating with the implications of what this outsider knows when she felt the man in question poke her forehead.

"Of course I know everything. I just don't care. I've collapsed entire planes of existence. Nothing you have ever done could compare to devastation on that level."

The soft way he spoke reassured her somewhat, and decided to focus elsewhere… Like his abs… Or maybe the 'collapsing planes of existence thing. That's probably relevant…

Alaveize frowned, 'this could be a long conversation… at least there's dinner' "Come, Serafall, there's food for this conversation in the next room."

*/-\\* Noonish, 3/13/12 */-\\*

Alaveize gazed into the depths of his diamond glass sphere, 'So you will be my new home. I suppose this is better than I could have hoped'. He held the still blisteringly hot sphere in his bare hand- it was about the size of a small cantaloupe- as he affixed it to the end of the scepter he had built. Five Etherium gilded darksteel claws held the sphere in place. The Etherium immediately connected to it and forged the necessary connection between the parts.

All of the moxen were concealed by the darksteel base, and thousands upon thousands of tiny runes were inscribed in etherium script. Beyond that, once that was made permanent, the entire 5-foot scepter was coated completely in etherium. He of course made the scepter just thin enough that one could use it with one hand- if they have large hands. It's imperative to be able to keep one hand open to make rude gestures and cast subtle spells after all.

The final product was impressive- he would have to test the true durability, so he sent a psychic message to Ajuka- 'I am heading outside to do some tests on the final product. You may come watch if you wish. Feel free to bring any of the contestants. I will be in a clearing north of the laboratory' and made his way out into the rocky terrain.

Walking in a straight line, he used the scepter as a bludgeon on boulders in his way- to his satisfaction, the scepter was undamaged and even with the low effort he exerted, the boulders had been reduced to nothing but rubble.

When he arrived at a clearing of suitable size- nearly 200 feet in radius- he closed his eyes and did even more assessment of the scepter. Clearly, he had designed it properly as there was already a mana network created by the etherium all throughout the creation and the sheer mana potential of the materials. It was almost similar to a full body etherium replacement that they do on Esper. It was perfect for ensuring life after death. Now he just had to stress test the durability.

At the appearance of the Satans, minus Falbium, plus Zeoticus saw him snapping his eyes open. "Thank you, for all of your hospitality. I'm afraid my time is coming to a close as the Scepter is complete. I only require your help testing it in order to feel comfortable 'moving in'."

Ajuka smiled, "Ah, so that is why you want everyone here. I'm sure that we'd all be happy to help with whatever you-"

"Does it have a name?!" Serafall interrupted in her excitement.

"But of course. It shall be 'Alaveize the Tyrant Scepter'. Once I live in it, anyways. Right now it's just 'The Tyrant's Scepter'." The artificer in question smiled. "Now, testing time." He let the scepter fall from his hand and walked over to where the Satans were gathered. As per its design, instead of falling like a normal object, the scepter floated gently about a foot off the ground and stayed in place.

"Testing what?" Sirzechs asked, eager to begin. Rias had confided in him two nights ago that she would be running away with the scepter, with Alaveize's approval of course. And after meeting with Alaveize, he couldn't make any argument against it. He was disappointed he wouldn't be able to augment his personal power but loved his sister too much to be upset. He just needed to make sure that she wouldn't be in any danger, so he was here to ensure everything went smoothly.

"First we test durability. All I need is for everyone to throw destructive techniques at the staff until they run out of things to try".

Two hours later, the landscape was completely ruined, but the scepter remained floating, completely undamaged.

The devils gathered were completely exhausted, and in total awe of the construct. They had literally thrown everything they had at the thing and they still couldn't affect it.

"Perfect." Alaveize summoned the scepter to his hand. "Now we test functionality. Zeoticus, if you will?"

The elder devil nodded, despite his exhaustion and gingerly accepted the scepter in his hand. Suddenly, all fatigue washed away, and he felt completely energized. Overflowing even, like he was connected to a powerful leyline. "This is…" He tried to find the words to describe the power flowing through him. He never wanted to let go of the sensation.

"Incredible?" Alaveize chuckled, "The raw mana potential of that thing is enough to reenergize someone of your level a billion times over. Of course, if it were unregulated you would explode instantly. Why don't you try casting?"

Zeoticus nodded, and cast a relatively tame fire spell, channeling through the spell through the scepter. A searing beam of flame that melted a hole through every rock formation for 500 meters was not his expectation. "That was… more than I expected…" He says in awe- so struck is he that he can't even react to Serafall grabbing the scepter from him.

"Why you! I wasn't done with the tests! Give it back!"

The childish Satan turned up her nose, already completely reinvigorated by the power of the scepter. "No, it's my turn! What will we test next?"

The scepter teleported back to Alaveize's hand, "The return feature. I made this thing with few features in its base form, as it is meant to house my soul. My own will shall provide the rest."

"But what will those features be?"

Alaveize smiled mysteriously, "That is for my wielder to know, and all others to find out. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to finish a couple trinkets from some leftover materials." With that, he tapped the scepter on the ground, and disappeared without a trace.

"Well," Sirzechs drawls, "that was… interesting. And mildly disconcerting how durable that thing is. Not even the Power of Destruction could dent it. I can't even imagine how devastating it would be to channel it through the scepter."

Everyone shivered at the implications of such a combination. Sirzechs paled as he realized that it wouldn't take long for Rias to figure it out, even discounting Alaveize's tutelage. 'I probably have to warn the other faction leaders about such a development once it became public knowledge among devils that Rias was in the overworld, now that I think about it…'

After a weighty silence, Zeoticus pondered aloud, "I wonder what kind of trinkets?"

*/-\\* Back in the Lab */-\\*

Alaveize tossed the handful of diamond spheres- each barely the size of a gumball- in his hand as he lounged on a couch while he waited for Rias and Akeno so that he could depart. He mused as to why he even made the spheres in the first place. Such a dense battery could keep the average high-class devil fighting at full strength for 2 days at least if it had a full charge. Not that he had ever tested that number, but if Rias's reserves were to be used as a metric, he was correct. 'I made 7, all that I could with the material left. I wonder how she will distribute them among her servants… Especially as she can have up to 15 of them. Hopefully she won't screw it up…'

Thankfully, the two girls arrived quickly. Rias was dressed for the weather in the human world- Combat boots, jeans, and a light sweatshirt. She was also rolling a large suitcase behind her. Akeno, on the other hand, was in her traditional Shrine Maiden outfit, and not carrying anything at all.

Akeno bowed deeply, "I'm ready to be tested, Master Alaveize."

He waved his hand lazily, "No need for formalities, I'll be an inanimate object in no time at all." He turned and walked toward the part of the lab he would use to assess her. This would be a test not just of her skill, but also of her resolve and dedication to her Master.

The girls followed him as he descended a ramp to the dungeons of Ajuka's castle. "Where are we going Alaveize? These dungeons haven't been used since the Devil Civil War…" Akeno asked nervously.

Unlike every other time he had been asked so far, he didn't answer. This divergence from the norm was so startling that they bumped into Alaveize when he stopped and dispelled an illusion, revealing an assortment of 5 people- one middle aged man, one middle aged woman, and 3 children, 2 girls and 1 boy, around their age- clad in the outfits of shrine caretakers unconscious and chained to a wall about 50 feet away. "We are here."

He turned around to confusion in Rias's eyes and tears in Akeno's. "You… you brought my favorite family members here… You can't mean?"

Alaveize nodded, "You will prove that you can use blightning by using it on them. If you can use such a hateful technique on those you love, it will be easy to use in any other circumstance." He smiled viciously, "Now get to it, starting with Koga, then moving left all the way to Motome."

Akeno walked stiffly to over to where her family- 'former family' she corrected herself- was chained. Once she had crossed some threshold, they immediately woke.

"Akeno? What are you doing here? Where are we?" Her aunt Naka spoke frantically.

It was all Akeno could do not to burst into tears on the spot, but she did begin to leak even more tears. "I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry for what I'm about to do." She said softly just loud enough for her family to hear. She had read about what blightning did to its victims. If they didn't die here, they would definitely be broken for life if she cast it properly.

"Why this?" Rias asked angrily, "You don't have to make her do this to test her!"

"You're welcome, Rias. This shall ensure that your servant will only ever look to the future. Her loyalty to you will be absolute." He patted her shoulder, then offered her the diamond spheres, "I suggest you offer her one of these."

"You can't offer someone a trinket and have them forget about how you pushed them to a spot like this!" Rias threw her hands up.

Alaveize laughed, "We can discuss your scruples as we travel. For now, let's watch the show."

Akeno released her wings- one of black feather and the other sinewy and black- so that she could say something without having to talk. She knew that if she had to talk to her family- the ones loved and cared for her- then she would cry. More. She breathed deeply, trying to drown out her Koga and Naka's questions with her meditation.

Not even a minute later, blightning manifested, crackling over her skin, lashing out at the air around her. Just like when Alaveize had summoned it, it produced a fear inducing aura, though hers wasn't nearly as oppressive. It was enough to make her family stop asking questions and start begging.

"Please! You don't have to do this, you can still return to the light! I'll do whatever I possibly can to help you!" Koga sobbed. The children were less resilient to such an aura, so they were frozen. Naka just sobbed and kept muttering prayers through her tears.

Akeno raised up her hand, the black lightning roiling up her arm, gathering in her palm. She was scared. She had never seen the effects for herself. But as much as she was scared, she was excited to see what would happen. With a simple gesture, the blightning lanced over to Koga. The second it touched him, he let out a primal scream of agony. She watched, fascinated as it coursed through his body and dealt its damage. In 5 seconds, blood started to leak from every orifice on his face. After 10, he bit his tongue off- trying to kill himself rather than endure blightning any longer. He was unsuccessful as when he stopped screaming, Akeno upped the intensity slightly and a new scream was ripped from his throat, sending his tongue flying across the room. She looked toward the projectile and sighed- then sent enough to kill him instantly.

She raised her hand and looked at it dispassionately. 'Huh,' she thought, 'It really does smother your emotions when you use it. All you need is the will to get it started.' She looked at the remaining prisoners- cowering and smelling of piss. 'I guess they couldn't handle the fear,' she thought with a smirk.

Rias watched, aghast, as her [Queen] went down the row, casting blightning on each. She knew that Alaveize had said Blightning dulls the 'pesky emotions' of its caster, but this was next level. Akeno looked like she was casting on Fallen Angels, not the family that she had loved before she was driven away by the hostile leadership of her clan. "That technique… it truly is monstrous. To make the user so cold, isn't it dangerous?"

"Not at all," Alaveize explained, "Aside from some dependency issues in rare cases, blightning is quite safe… For the caster. She'll probably have some problems this time though, after seeing what she did to those people." Seeing that Akeno was finishing up with the last one, he said, "Akeno, make sure not to disable blightning quite yet."

She walked over to her [King] and Alaveize, blightning still arcing between her wings, "What is it? Have I not done enough already?" she spits, obviously somewhat bitter over the ordeal.

"You've done marvelously. I'm happy to have found a successor to this technique, so I will reward you with a book of more versatile lightning techniques." Alaveize smiled broadly and removed a large tome from seemingly nowhere. "Now, listen to your [King]."

"Akeno, I…"

"No need Rias, we already said our goodbyes before coming here. Just in case of something like this…"

"I know… I just, want you to have one of these." She presented her [Queen] with one of the diamond spheres. "For my peace of mind and as a reward for dealing with well…" she waved her hand, "This."

Akeno took the sphere with reverence, "I appreciate it Rias. I won't forget to text you." She turned her head to Alaveize, "Thank you, you absolute bastard." With that, she let go of the blightning, and immediately collapsed from exhaustion, both physical and mental.

Alaveize tapped his scepter, and Akeno started floating. "Come. The time has come for me to leave this flesh prison." He started walking back toward the lab, and Rias followed, along with Akeno floating behind. They walked in silence save for the clacking of Rias's suitcase wheels rolling over the grooves in the stone brick floors.

"So…" Rias nervously tried to start a conversation a few minutes into the walk, "What's will I learn first? Some kind of powerful attack? A new kind of magic? How about-"

"No" Alaveize interjected. "Your first priority is mastery of your isolation zone. It is imperative that you are able to escape from even the direst of circumstance. As Sirzechs's sister, and my wielder, you will be a high-profile target." Seeing Rias's despondent look, he kept talking, "Though, I will also teach you a rather oppressive area of effect technique."

Her face brightened at that, knowing that Riser already had 11 peerage pieces. 'A sufficiently powerful AoE technique should even the odds' she thought. "What do you mean by oppressive? Don't you mean powerful?"

"Yes and no. This technique isn't some kind of one-and-done attack. This is a continuous effect that will make it impossible for beings below a certain power threshold to even exist near it." Alaveize explained, but not fully. He would leave that for training.

The pair arrived in a completely abandoned part of the underground infrastructure- specifically a room where Alaveize had set up a ritual. He slowly lowered Akeno to the ground outside of the ritual room. "You will be responsible for putting her in a place where she can be found before we leave."

"Very well."

With that Alaveize started stripping and Rias started blushing. "Keep the cloak. You'll grow into it, and it should still have plenty of surprises for you. You can burn the rest. Its unimportant." Alaveize noticed her embarrassment and tried to defuse it.

"Thank you?" With that, Alaveize walked into the center of the ritual circle, only holding his scepter. His crowning jewel of his life experience. His home, for the rest of eternity.

And then he began the chant. Not in any known language, but it was a haunting, sorrowful melody that reverberated in the underground cavern. The diamond atop the scepter began glowing a bright white, and Alaveize's physical body started dissolving, starting with his feet. The blood of the ritual circle began glowing- charged with the arcane energy of the ritual. As the dust of his still dissolving body began to scatter in all directions as the air itself was pushed down by the pressure of the energy of the ritual. With only the energy remaining, it was absorbed quickly by the diamond.

With only his floating head remaining, Alaveize made eye contact with Rias, closed his mouth, and nodded. The melody continued. Inside of 5 seconds his essence was completely absorbed by the scepter.

For a couple minutes, there was silence. Just a dressed down noble devil starting at a floating scepter. Suddenly, a voice impacted her mind:

" _Prepare yourself!'_

And in an instant, the scepter was in her hand that she'd instinctively put in front of her. In the next, she nearly exploded with power, and she tried to draw on his power. Just the tiniest bit, and she could barely contain it.

" _You have a long way to go. Now expel the excess energy as a beam. Shoot from your off hand."_

Rias followed his orders, and started feeling better, even as the charged-up Power of Destruction gouged a hole in the dungeon floor. A deep hole.

" _You are far from able to harness my power. In its base form, that would render this item useless to you. Thankfully for you, I'm here to regulate the flow so you don't explode."_

"Thank you, Alaveize," she spoke solemnly, "I will do my best to exercise caution with such power." She picked up his cloak and folded it neatly and putting it in her suitcase.

" _Now let's take Akeno. I want to try something."_ Feeling a sense of agreement in her mind, he continued, _"Now hold onto her, and picture the place where you want to leave her."_ When he saw a decadent bedroom in his wielder's mind's eye, he prepared to planeshift, " _Now, just a tiny bit of power given no direction into the scepter."_

Then they disappeared. Untraceable, undetectable, unrestricted.

 **AN: Hello friends, here's chapter 3, freshly revised. I hope you enjoyed** **. If you're wondering why Serafall is having so much trouble, Alaveize's initial dig into her mind gave him a pretty easy backdoor back in and a significantly easier time influencing her. Of course, I will answer most questions I receive.**

 **In scheduling news, I had a pretty bad couple of weeks, so I'm only about 65% done with Chapter 4. Hopefully I can get done with chapter 5 by the time I release 4.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry to do this, but I'm currently in the process of looking for a job and I don't really have time to write right now. I will continue to work when I can, and I should have chapter 4 posted in 2 weeks time.**

 **Thank you,**

 **GreyArea**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: So the good news is that I'm not dead. The bad news is that I still don't have a consistent schedule, so updates will continue to be sporadic. In other good news, I have a lot better idea of where I'm going with this, so I probably have enough ideas for 4+ more chapters before we even deal with Riser. Sorry again for the delays :/**

'thoughts'

' _thoughts as part of a conversation'_

" _Disembodied voices talking"_

"Talking"

[Rank designation]

 **Technique Name**

*/-\\**/-\\*

The week after Rias and Alaveize's disappearance was utter chaos for the Satans and the Gremory clan. Once Ajuka returned to the laboratory to find it empty of Alaveize, he started to investigate. He almost instantly found the scene of Akeno's 'exam'. Even in spite of his devil nature, he was unsettled by the residue of whatever magic was used to execute this well… execution.

Upon closer examination of the the crispy fried Himejimas were wearing, he discovered the family crest on their clothing, and that their physical injuries came in the form of an electricity-based attack. He immediately connected the dots and reached out to Zeoticus with this conundrum. When Zeoticus went to find Akeno in her bedroom, he also found a short note from Rias on Akeno's nightstand.

 _Dear Mother and Father,_

 _Alaveize has agreed to allow me to be his first wielder, and his new student. I have departed and will not return for some time. Under normal circumstances, I would be happy to train my power at home, but due to certain mistakes, I cannot do that. At this point, the earliest I would return is when I am confident that I have enough power to kill Riser Phenex should this farce not end before I return. You should have known that the position you have put me in would drive me to something like this._

 _Be well,_

 _Rias_

After waking up Akeno, they let her prepare for the day before questioning her at the breakfast table. They found that she only remembers up until she finished her 'exam' when she received the diamond sphere that was in her pocket and had no idea how she got back to the Gremory Estate, much less where Rias was.

After Zeoticus and Ajuka had finished with their questions concerning Rias, Zeoticus left the table, clearly quite agitated. Ajuka, on the other hand, was quite interested in what had actually happened in that dungeon. "Akeno-chan, I know it may be hard for you to talk about," He remembers when he was young in the War and he made his first kill. He was not insensitive to her plight, but as a Devil, remorse was something you had to confront on your own. "But can you at least tell me what kind of Magic you used?"

She shook her head, "I'm afraid I cannot let anyone know of it until I can properly defend myself. Some devils would go to any length to acquire it." She respected Lord Beelzebub, but he was widely considered to be recklessly curious and without concern for his specimens.

Ajuka respected that wisdom, but he simply needed to know more about the strange lightning magic. The burns on those victims did not denote a voltage high enough to deal the damage they suffered. There were additional effects that he needed to know about. He patted her gently on the shoulder, "That's wise to worry about such a thing, but despite my reputation as a mad scientist, I only want to help you here. In exchange for permission to study the diamond sphere, and whatever lightning Magic you used, I will train you personally in their usage."

"That seems rather unfair to you, Lord Beelzebub. What's the catch?" Akeno was naturally suspicious of such a deal, but it sure was tempting… Rias was being trained by Alaveize. If she didn't find a tutor at a high level, she would fall too far behind to be of any use to her [King].

"No catch, I just have never seen any Magic like it and I want to know about it. Plus, I have a feeling you'll be strong in the future. Getting credit as your tutor is surely enough as a bonus." Ajuka admitted, someone jokingly. His eyes steeled, "And as a Maou, it is in part my responsibility to develop the military assets of our faction."

"Well then," Akeno's eyes hardened, and she reached her hand across the table, "You have a deal, Lord Beelzebub."

He grasped her hand with a smile, and shook firmly, "Please, Akeno-chan, while we work together, please call be Ajuka. In private, of course." He winks.

With Rias no longer in the devil world, and no potential leads into her location in the overworld, the only things Zeoticus could do are to send out teams to track Rias down or to accept that his precious heir and only daughter would be out by herself in the world for years. 'The worst part is that Venelana will have to be told about everything that's going on when she gets back from her medical conference in Switzerland…' Zeoticus thought to himself as he paced his luxurious office.

"What's eating at you Zeo?" Ajuka asked, having just entered the room. "You know the options, and its not that hard. With possession of Alaveize, you know that any attempt to reclaim her will end in disaster at best."

"Yes, of course, it's just Venelana won't be happy at all when she gets back. I'm also somewhat bothered by the speed at which this developed. There's no way that Rias has a real plan for what to do in the overworld."

It was at this moment that Sirzechs teleported in with Serafall and Falbium, "Oh good, everyone's already here. Alright, so Rias is in the overworld with Alaveize. Our job now is to figure out how to handle this in devil society and beyond. Our top priorities are Rias's safety in these dealings and not causing an incident. In that order. Serafall, as the Maou of Foreign Affairs, you will lead our efforts and set our direction in that arena. Falbium will take charge of dealing with the devil council. I would, but they would suspect favoritism. Ajuka, Dad, and I are on support detail so feel free to use our expertise."

Ajuka rolled his eyes, exasperated, but capitulated to Serafall dragging him away anyway.

*/-\\* 3/17/12: Karpathos, Greece */-\\*

' _Really? You want to run away and stay in a 5-star hotel in the middle of the Aegean Sea?'_ Alaveize was slightly irritated. After 5 days of camping in the woods in Canada, the spoiled devil decided to go to Greece. Greece!

' _Mou'_ Rias thought back _'Don't be so grumpy. I'm not just here for vacation. There are plenty of out of the way spots to train. Plus, maybe I'll attract some [peerage] members if they sense me.'_ She unlocked the penthouse suite, then began to set up wards around the luxurious place. _'Besides, this is a property owned by the Gremory Clan. I can stay here for free and focus completely on training instead of wasting energy on the basics of living.'_ Rias finished with her wards and pulled her suitcase out of the interdimensional storage space that Alaveize had helped her set up and started unpacking. It wasn't very large, so it wasn't too much a leech on her power. In fact, her suitcase was enough to fill it to capacity right now.

' _Very well, this is clearly not some frivolous change of scenery, and if you're able to save time on tasks of living I'll be able to push you even harder!'_ Alaveize was actually pretty excited about helping develop techniques with the Power of Destruction. He'd looted Sirzechs's memory for his techniques and thought there was quite a bit of room for improvement in his mind.

Rias was also excited to do anything but training with her isolation spell. In their 5 days in Canadian wilderness, she had reached a level that would allow her to withstand most attacks for long enough that Alaveize could 'planeshift' -as he had called it- for her to escape. Unfortunately, she still hadn't learned a single new spell since there was such a focus on the isolation spell. In her mind she was completely ready for new spells. _'Oh good. I've been waiting for you to step it up from practicing a single spell'_

*/-\\* Two weeks later 3/31/2012 */-\\*

" _You've finally gotten it! Now we can move beyond this technique onto something more interesting"_ Alaveize was always tempting her ahead with promises of juicier and juicier techniques, and it always reignited her desire to keep working hard. As usual during training, he was floating independently in front of her.

In her dreams at night, Alaveize had been showing her memories of his life- including some truly epic battles by her standards. She knew some amount of how strong Alaveize and the beings he faced down were. And just as when she was training, there was always the promise of a more devastating and magnificent duel. Though, she had a hard time imagining anything to surpass his battle on Jund against an entire roost of dragons.

"There is NO WAY you can consider the **Withering Field** to be 'the basics' you sadistic asshole!" Rias griped. Her eyes had taken on the appearance of being nothing but the Power of Destruction, and all around her, reality seemed to be melting. Everything from trees to rocks to grass to small woodland animals to large woodland animals to the insects was dissolving in the face of the oppressive aura of Rias's Power of Destruction. Of course, the things nearer to her turned to nothing faster, and the speed slowed until the end of her range. Her current range was just 50 yards in all directions of her, but that would improve with time and power. The entire two weeks she'd spent on this technique was worth it though. By her estimations, a normal human could survive for 10 seconds at the most and would be nothing but dust in the wind by 30 seconds. Like her range, the speed of dissolution would also increase with skill and power.

" _Well it would be if SOMEONE had done enough control training. It's not my fault that you needed to get up to speed on the most basic skill in a mage's arsenal."_

"Hey! I'll have you know that I did all of the training that-"

" _Was assigned to you, yes I know. And it wasn't enough. At least you're up to snuff now and will continue to improve as I teach you more and more advanced techniques._ _ **Withering Field**_ _is a simple application of your power, even considering the control needed to actually make it work. Next, we will begin on_ _ **Null Lash**_ _. It will require considerably more delicate control to work, so I hope you're ready."_

"C'mon Alaveize, you know that will take me forever. Can't we do a different one first? One that's a bit more similar to the stuff if know already?" Rias whined. She knew that once they started a technique, Alaveize wouldn't allow her to move on until she had a sufficient (according to Alaveize, of course) mastery of the technique. If this would take her another two weeks, that would be a total disaster! A whole month on two moves!"

" _No, this order has purpose. I'm ramping up your control until you can safely take the form of your Power of Destruction."_ She can hear the malevolent grin in his words, even with no face. _"Once you reach that level, I can teach you some real magic. Your fleshy body simply doesn't have the capacity for the level of magic I want to teach you."_

"You would teach my brother's technique?" 'No other wielder has ever achieved such a level…'

" _Bah, I have seen his version. It is sloppy and unrefined. He cannot even control the effects of his aura in that state. I have a much higher standard for my pupils. You will learn my way."_

'To think that even Sirzechs's **Aura of Destruction** falls short of Alaveize's expectations. Truly his title of 'Tyrant' is earned' "I look forward to it!" Rias said, with a smile on her face. 'Whatever hardship I face under Alaveize will be worth it. He really isn't bluffing about me surpassing my brother.' "Let's get stated on **Null Lash**!"

'Heh, she really is excited about this. It would be remiss of me to deny her.' _"Very well then. As you know, the form of your Power of Destruction is largely governed by your intent, so making a lasting form is quite difficult considering how mercurial its possessors are. For many of my techniques, a razor focus and unwavering determination are necessary. This is just the first among many that will tax your mental resources to cast in addition to your magic. In exchange for such a requirement, these techniques are powerful and difficult to disrupt. Before throwing you into the deep end of this technique, I'll start you with a training exercise…"_

*/-\\* Heaven, 3/31/2012 */-\\*

"To think that someone like Lucifer's sister is out and about in the human world alone at just 14… If anything happens to her the results could be a disaster for everyone involved." Michael frowned, "If only we had more information than Serafall gave us…" He ran his slender delicate hands through his long blonde hair- the leader of the Heaven faction was obviously troubled by the implications of such a young devil being alone in the overworld. Family troubles? Legal troubles? Secret assignment? The possibilities were varied, but each had their troubles.

Uriel snorted, "Serafall is always evading her responsibilities, as expected of a devil queen, but this time is seemed like that's all she could tell us as opposed to just giving us the bare minimum for her job."

Gabriel smiled serenely, "They either don't know where Rias is, or they don't want to give us the information about even what country she's in." She pouted, "I'm not sure which would be more worrying."

Both male angels frowned, not having considered that Rias could be hidden from even the family Super Devil and his Super Devil friends. Uriel huffed, "Well if she ran away from home and no one caught her, she might be worth talking to."

Michael sat with his eyes closed, in thought. After a moment, he opened his green eyes, "Perhaps. Spread the word that if any of Heaven's operatives encounter Lucifer's sister, they are to invite her to meet with me."

Uriel nodded, "It will be done." He teleported away from the 6th level of heaven without another word.

Michael slumped in the golden throne he occupied, "Maybe she can help us establish a peace with the underworld. That's what Father would have wanted us to see in this opportunity."

Gabriel smiled all the way to her sea blue eyes "I'm sure that Father's Will works in ways even we Seraphim cannot anticipate, but I have a good feeling about this news."

Michael sighed, "It's at times like these that I envy your optimism and can only pray that you are correct."

*/-\\* Kyoto 3/31/2012 */-\\*

Yasaka, the nine tailed fox, and leader of the Youkai Faction moaned into the face-rest of the massage table under the careful ministrations by the skilled hands of the healer her household had on retainer. "What is troubling you today, Yasaka-sama?" The masseur spoke in a soft, deep voice with an Etheopian accent. He had built strong trust with the faction leader in the 3 years he had been living on Yasaka's estate and acted as something of a confidant.

Yasaka took her time thinking about whether to say anything at all. Once her massage was over, she decided to. "Koyah-san, its not really trouble for the faction, but one of the Maou's sisters is unsupervised in the overworld for as long as three years. I'm given to believe that she's going to be something of a free agent so I'm deliberating whether to send people looking for her to request a meeting."

"Hmm. So they really don't know where she is huh." At this point the pair had started walking toward the dining room for dinner. As usual, the African Starling Youkai would have his meal with the Faction Leader and her family and close friends, and it was one of his favorite parts of every day.

"I suspected as much, but how do you know for certain?" Yasaka didn't really pay attention to Devil customs that don't affect her directly, so she was unaware of anything strange.

"Normally, Devils don't go to the overworld so quickly, and they definitely don't go alone. Especially not the sister of a Maou." At this point, they walked into the sunlit dining room, and the evening sun made Koyah's feathers glisten in all colors of the rainbow- completely iridescent, dazzling the others in the room, as per usual. "I would like any new information regarding this situation. I'm sure that I can convince her to meet with you at the very least."

Yasaka hugged his arm between her boobs, "Thank you Koyah-san, for volunteering to do this for me. The Youkai faction really _appreciates_ your efforts." She knew he was a powerful healer and his ability to use senjutsu was both rare and prized. Plus he was adorable and shy, which made him fun to tease.

Koyah blushed bright red at the implication, "No worries, I'm always happy to assist you- I mean the faction! - in any way you need." 'Thankfully my feathers conceal my blush, I might die of embarrassment if Yasaka was able to see how I am now'

The kitsune in question giggled, "I'm sure you are," She gave him a saucy wink, "But now it is time for dinner." She clapped twice, and servants started emerging from the kitchens with plates of delicious food. "Please enjoy, everyone."

*/-\\* Las Vegas, 3/31/2012 */-\\*

Jalai sat comfortably at his desk in the casino while his information dealer told him about some young Devil bitch who went out on her own and one of his thralls serviced him from under the desk. Yeah, Rias was the sister of Sirzechs Lucifer, but she was on her own. He wanted her for himself, if only just to be able to strong-arm Sirzechs. That guys really got under his skin, so getting his sister would be incredible revenge. "And the latest reports place her somewhere in Europe."

The thrall under his desk swallowed his load, then Jalai spoke, "Thank you. You can collect your chips from Rufus on your way out. Do come back with any new information regarding her location."

The dealer scurried away as fast as possible to the door, eager to be away from his client. The pay was incredible since he took it in casino chips, but the half-vampire half-incubus always terrified him. Jalai was known to be ruthless, cruel, and powerful, so it was his policy to steer clear of the man whenever possible.

'Now', Jalai thought, 'I need a plan that will cause Rias to be mine without strictly forcing her. She needs to think she wants it….'

*/-\\* Grigori HQ, 3/31/2012 */-\\*

As Azazel gave his lieutenants news of Rias's journey to the overworld, he noticed Kokabiel's excitement and Baraqiel's worry and filed those away to discuss with them individually. "Are there any questions about this news?"

Shemhazai sighed, "Are you sure that you want to go with 'no engagement' as our plan? She could be a valuable ally to have if we can convince her to work with us. Perhaps she left the underworld as a result of being fed up with Devils?"

"I'm sure. The risk is far too great. If we fail, and she reports our recruitment attempt, that could lead to a seriously strained relationship with the devil faction for the foreseeable future." Azazel explained, "Good thought though. You are all dismissed. Baraqiel, stay behind. I have something private to discuss with you."

Not even a minute later, the rest had gone, and it was just Azazel and Baraqiel in the room. "You look worried, Bar. What's going on?"

"It's… my daughter, sir. She is a part of Rias's [Peerage]. I'm worried about what has happened to her with Rias gone. Is there anything we can do?" Baraqiel sighed, "I understand if there isn't, but…"

Azazel looked contemplative for a moment, "No, no… This is good. I'm going to assign you to find Rias and set up backchannels for me to meet with her. As far as anyone is concerned, you are not acting on behalf of the Grigori, but as a father concerned for his daughter. This also means that you will have to work without access to the resources of the Grigori for the duration of the mission. Can I count on you?"

"Of course sir, you can count on me. With your permission I will take tonight to pack and head out first thing in the morning."

"Good man. You will contact me once negotiations are complete. Make sure that you keep the interests of the Grigori in mind when negotiating, and good luck." Azazel turned and walked to the antechamber that led to his personal laboratory.

/*-*\ 1/14/2013, Crete- The Labyrinth \\*-*/

" _Well done Rias. I hadn't expected you to reach this level of mastery so soon. Now that you've figured out the basics and strengthened your Power of destruction to an acceptable level you can begin learning an_ _ **Armor**_ _technique. It is the next step in reaching the necessary control for a proper_ _ **Aura of Destruction**_ _."_ As always, the voice of Alaveize was her constant companion, even with the Tyrant Scepter stored in her pocket dimension.

"Well that's just great. Is this one actually useful?" Rias had taken to speaking to Alaveize out loud when she was alone even though there was no need to. In fact, she doubted she'd be sane if she hadn't started talking out loud since she has yet to be contacted by anyone from any supernatural faction. "Because if it's anything like **Suppression Veil** I don't want it!"

" _Hey, I'll have you know that_ _ **Suppression Veil**_ _is extremely useful and has many important applications against high level opponents."_

"Oh, really. And what use, pray tell is such a minor effect against someone like my brother? It wouldn't help me in the least against him!"

" _Of course it is of no use now, but when you begin to reach his power level, information about what your foe is doing can be a matter of life and death._ _ **Suppression Veil**_ _not only prevents others from analyzing your spells, but from monitoring your magic flow. This cuts off a lot of the information needed to anticipate exactly what is going to happen. Your brother doesn't always have the perfect counter because he's a genius. He has it because he knows what's happening before everyone else. This isn't even mentioning the applications against someone like Ajuka."_ Alaveize continued to drone on about the technique as Rias walked back through the Labyrinth, following the gouges in the walls made by a finger coated in the Power of Destruction.

"Fine, I guess we'll come back to this in another hundred years when I get to Sirzechs's level." Rias retorted. There was only so much snark a girl could put up with before she got similarly snippy after all. "And you keep saying basics. How are these techniques not advanced?"

" _They are basics because they are basic in complexity. Once you finish learning the_ _ **Armor**_ _technique, I can teach you more complex techniques. The first one I teach you will have five component spells, so you can look forward to that."_

Rias rounded another corner and came to a large staircase which she began to climb. "Oh good. Now, answer me- Will. The. **Armor**. Be. Useful?"

" _More than you can imagine my dear. It is similar to the_ _ **Claw**_ _technique you learned so you could learn to sharpen your Power. This time, you will be completely coated in the Power of Destruction, but you must sharpen the exterior and have it be in constant motion. It will function similarly to an_ _ **Aura of Destruction**_ _, just weaker and more focus intensive to maintain."_

Rias breathed a sigh of relief. Her efforts would be rewarded with tangible and powerful results. And if the last 9 months had taught her anything, such an intense technique would elevate her overall skill as well. "Ok," She ducked as she reached the top of the staircase and pulsed her magic to detect any other people. Finding nothing, she walked into the quarry that held the maze, gaze pulled to the sky. "Let's get to it then."

" _So eager… Do you want me to demonstrate?"_

"If you wouldn't mind, yes please." Rias replied. Not a moment later, she blinked- and when her eyes opened, instead of her normal blue eyes, they had an arcane glow that denoted possession.

' _Now pay attention to the way your energy flows, and how I regulate it. And pay attention to the way that I use the technique for more hints.'_ Alaveize thought directly to Rias, who was currently taking the backseat in her own body.

'I don't think I'll ever get used to being possessed, but for such an in-depth learning experience, I'll endure.' _'You got it! Now show me what you got!'_

AN: Well that's a wrap guys. I'll see you next time. As you can see, I've got a lot of threads to pick up later, so enjoy trying to guess where I'm going with each of them.


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